PURPOSE: It is widely acknowledged that teachers are at greater risk of work-related health problems. At the same time, employee perceptions of different dimensions of organizational climate can influence their attitudes, performance, and well-being at work. This study applied and extended a safety climate model in the context of the education sector in Hong Kong. Apart from safety considerations alone, the study included occupational health considerations and social capital and tested their relationships with occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes. METHODS: Seven hundred and four Hong Kong teachers completed a range of questionnaires exploring social capital, OSH climate, OSH knowledge, OSH performance (compliance and participation), general health, and self-rated health complaints and injuries. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships between predictive and outcome variables. RESULTS: SEM analysis revealed a high level of goodness of fit, and the hypothesized model including social capital yielded a better fit than the original model. Social capital, OSH climate, and OSH performance were determinants of both positive and negative outcome variables. In addition, social capital not only significantly predicted general health directly, but also had a predictive effect on the OSH climate-behavior-outcome relationship. CONCLUSIONS: This study makes a contribution to the workplace social capital and OSH climate literature by empirically assessing their relationship in the Chinese education sector.
PURPOSE: It is widely acknowledged that teachers are at greater risk of work-related health problems. At the same time, employee perceptions of different dimensions of organizational climate can influence their attitudes, performance, and well-being at work. This study applied and extended a safety climate model in the context of the education sector in Hong Kong. Apart from safety considerations alone, the study included occupational health considerations and social capital and tested their relationships with occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes. METHODS: Seven hundred and four Hong Kong teachers completed a range of questionnaires exploring social capital, OSH climate, OSH knowledge, OSH performance (compliance and participation), general health, and self-rated health complaints and injuries. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the relationships between predictive and outcome variables. RESULTS: SEM analysis revealed a high level of goodness of fit, and the hypothesized model including social capital yielded a better fit than the original model. Social capital, OSH climate, and OSH performance were determinants of both positive and negative outcome variables. In addition, social capital not only significantly predicted general health directly, but also had a predictive effect on the OSH climate-behavior-outcome relationship. CONCLUSIONS: This study makes a contribution to the workplace social capital and OSH climate literature by empirically assessing their relationship in the Chinese education sector.
Authors: Winnie Yip; S V Subramanian; Andrew D Mitchell; Dominic T S Lee; Jian Wang; Ichiro Kawachi Journal: Soc Sci Med Date: 2006-10-09 Impact factor: 4.634
Authors: Anne Kouvonen; Tuula Oksanen; Jussi Vahtera; Ari Väänänen; Roberto De Vogli; Marko Elovainio; Jaana Pentti; Stavroula Leka; Thomas Cox; Mika Kivimäki Journal: Addiction Date: 2008-08-14 Impact factor: 6.526
Authors: Anne Kouvonen; Mika Kivimäki; Jussi Vahtera; Tuula Oksanen; Marko Elovainio; Tom Cox; Marianna Virtanen; Jaana Pentti; Sara J Cox; Richard G Wilkinson Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2006-10-13 Impact factor: 3.295